Egg-case.



, W. H. E RIdK.

' EGG CASE.

v APPLICATION FILED DEC. 14. 1910.

Patefited July 11, 1911.

Attorneys UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM HARRISON EMRICK, OF PORTLAND, OREGON.

EGG-CASE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patel} ted Jtlly 1 1, 191 l Application filed December 14, 1910. Serial No. 597,232.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, \VILLIAM H. EMnIoK, a citizen of the llllllctl States, residing at Portland. in the county of Multnoinah and State of Oregon, have invented a new and useful Egg-Case, of which the following is ,a speci fication.

This invention relates to receptacles of wood or paper, and more especially to that class (untaiuing cells; and the object of the same is to produce an egg case whereof all the parts or members may be folded fiat and in small compass when the case is notigure 1 is a perspective view of this egg case complete. Fig. 2 1s a perspective view of the housing partly folded. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the tray partly folded. FigJ i is a perspective View of the cellular member partly folded. Fig. 5 'is a plan view of the cellular member within the tray. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the cellular member and tray assembled and with the tab of the tray arranged in a slightly different manner than as shown in Fig.

It will be understood. that the parts or members of this case may be made of still paper or cardboard, of thin wood or veneer, or of any suitable flexible material without departing from the spirit of my invention; and that. the. size, shape and proportion of the parts are not important.

In the drawings the letter H designates broadly the housing, '1 the tray, and C the cellular member. The housing H is composed of parallel top and bottom 1, and

edges 2 all formed in the shape of a rectan-' gle and open at its end 3, and it is obvious that such a housing may be folded flat into the compass of a rectangle whose length is the length of the housing and whose width is the width of its top and one edge. The cellular member C is by preference composed of a central longitudinal upright web 4. a number of lateral partitions 5, and upright panels 6 connecting the outer ends of the partitions, the whole when distended producing cells 7 as best seen in Fig. 5, but

that they adapted to be folded or collapsed into flat form as best shown in Fig. 4. The general size of this member when opened up for the reception of eggs is such that it will rest within the tray T and with it be capable of being slipped into thehousing H.

Coming now more particularly to the present, invention, the tray T is composed of two parts. One comprises a strip scored and bent. or as to form one end 10, then one side 11, then the other end 12, then the other side 13, and finally an outer flap 14 overlying the first end 10 and connected thereto by any suitable fastening means such as staples 15. The other part of the tray T comprises an upright end flap '20 secured by fastening means such as staples 25 to the end 12 above described, a bottom made in two sections 21 and 22 separated by a score line 23, an upright end flap 24 adapted to stand inside the flap 10 above described, and an end tab 26 preferably beveled on its edges as-at 27 as seen in Fig. 5. This tab may be allowed to pro'ect as shown in Fig. 1 so as to serve as a audio for withdrawing the drawer which is formed by assembling the cellular part within the tray, or as shown in Fig. 6 this tab may be inserted downward between the end flaps 10 and 14 of.

the tray. But in either case the angle between the tab 26 and the end flap 2 passes over at least one of the end flaps of the tray so that the bottom is supported at this end; whereas the other end of the bottom is supported by the flap 20 which is fastened as at 25 to the other end of the tray. This peculiar formation of'tray permits it to be folded flat in rather small compass as best illustrated in Fig. 3. That is to say, the tab is raised out of either position shown in Figs. 5 or 6, the bottom sections folded on the score line 23,.and. then the rectangular strip which forms the first part of the tray flattened or collapsed so'that its extreme length is the sum of the length of one side and one end, and the extreme width of this member as thus folded is the length of one half of the bottom.

The uses of this device are so well known need no elaboration here. The case is packed with eggs by the shipper who puts them in the cells 7 of the composite drawer, as shown in Fig. 5, and said drawer is then shoved into the housing 8, and the whole is shipped away. The consignee removes the eggs, flattens out the case, and returns the latter to the point of shipment.

I claim A collapsible tray having a rectangular strip forming one upright end panel, one

side, an end, another side, and an outer flap standing over said first end panel, fastening devices connecting this flap and panel near their ends, and a bottom scored across its mid-length, having one uprightend flap secured to the second-mentioned 

